Don't Call Me Angel, Jerk [ Levi Ackerman ]

Chapter 57 - Paradis

"Against the devils of
Paradis Island..."

---

"I told you for the tenth time. I'm not going to that freakish festival"

"Freakish?!" Gabi exclaimed "It's to celebrate the victory! My victory!!"

Dahlia clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes at the petite girl who's been convincing her for an hour

Gabi continued "Zofia, Udo and Falco are waiting outside! Please come with us Lieutenant Dahlia"

The warriors have grown closer with her over the weeks. And despite seeing each other everyday, Dahlia was still very rough towards them. Not like they cared about it anyway - they were now used to it

"Tsk, I'm not in the mood to babysit troublemakers today. You can go nag Pieck instead" She shooed her

The door to Dahlia's office creaked open, but by the sound of rumbling footsteps alone, she already knew who they were. The moment they rushed inside the room, the Lieutenant groaned in annoyance

"I'm no-" Dahlia stopped, scanning the warriors who entered "Wasn't Falco with you? Where did he go?"

Udo dismissed it "He just followed Vice Chief and that disabled soldier from one of the zone's hospitals. But how about you? Aren't you coming with us to the festival?"

The Lieutenant annoyingly stared at their pleading faces, cursing herself under her breath after that

"Fine, now can y'all get the hell out of my face?" She averted her eyes

They all cheered, then Zofia and Udo ran out of her office. Whilst the other girl waved "We'll see you later Ms. Klein!! Don't be late 'kay!"

It immediately became quiet when they left. Dahlia knew she had to prepare for the festival, but she was concerned after hearing what Udo said. She was worried, actually

Dahlia sometimes walked around the city under cover, just observing her surroundings. And since last week, she noticed Falco visiting an injured man very often. He'd deliver his letters too. With her privileges as a commissioned officer, she went through his files kept by the hospital. But found out that he was nothing more than a sickly man who got severly injured, ashamed to face his family

It was simply an act of worry over Falco, since he seemed too attached to that patient. But what made her place suspicions on the man was that, the place where he instructed Falco to send his messages was different to his address written on his medical details. Not even close

"Maybe his mind was just out of his proper state when he was asked for his details. I mean, he did suffer from memory loss" She muttered

Performances were only expected of the festival at night, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to go. She'll just have to watch the young kids from afar

---

"Gabi, didn't you tell us Miss Klein was coming?" The man asked her

"Right, I'm sure she'll come. Maybe she's just sitting alone somewhere"

They all looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of a certain lady. But Pieck only chuckled at the boy

"I see you're still on that crushing fever of yours, Colt" She chuckled

Gabi turned around and gawked at the man weirdly "Mr. Colt you li-"

"Shhh!" Colt quickly gestured her to stop "We should listen to Mr. Tybur's speech, this is important"

The Tybur family's influence was strong, thus there were many kinds of important people scattered over the chairs. She quietly watched them with a bored look on her face

Gabi was right about her - their Lieutenant was standing quite far from them, but she was listening to the speech of Mr. Tybur. But at the same time also glancing at the warrior's direction. Even though she was in the main army forces, she was together with them often

So far, they were the only people who liked staying around her despite treating them like mere comrades, not as a friend. They told her that she would eventually open up to them, no matter how much she hates talking about her

Later, Dahlia heard a few zooming noises from behind her. She turned around saw none, no one was there. The alleyways were dark too so she couldn't see anything at all

But it didn't bother her at all - Mr. Tybur's speech was taking all her attention. But it was more like a declaration. A declaration of war

"Lieutenant Colonel, do you think there's been an infestation of rats around here?" Questioned Magath

I raised a brow "You think there's a plague of rodents in our country?"

"Yes," Then he turned to me with a serious look "If there's any chance those vermins attack us, I need you to watch over the warriors. You're the only one I can trust on this task"

"Whether it comes to extermination or protection, you can entrust me to take on any mission, Mr. Magath"

Dahlia began to recall her Captain's words in mind. That's it, she was certain that somewhere here, right now, there were ears heeding on what they weren't meant to hear. And people who weren't meant to set foot in this place, especially him

Dahlia immediately jumped down from the roof, stating loudly to a group of her troops nearby "Go to the back of the podium. And if you see a man with long hair who's in bandages, bring him straight to me"

Rushing to the location, she avert her gaze to the warriors. Only the kids were there - where were they? Pieck, Porco and Zeke? Her suspicions rose higher and higher

Dahlia kept her eyes at them, but Mr. Tybur's orotund speech still rang through her ears as she listens

"Join me in living far to the future! With our power combined, we could overcome any hardship we face. Please give me strength," He stated loudly in a resonant manner

Dahlia widened her eyes as she quickly avert them to the stage, she thought - this was it "Let us join hands in this fight against the vicious demons of Paradis Island!"

Before she could even run towards the kids, in came a sudden tremor that emanated from the stage. The ground started shaking, and people were gaping frontwards. Then followed a strong ray of light that beamed from a small crack. Dahlia's eyes widen in shock as a titan emerged from the ground, devouring Mr. Tybur in front of everyone gathered in the venue

This was surely it. War has begun